


Sink or Swim

by c0cunt



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (forget that keith knows how to swim bc i completely forgot that while writing this), Almost drowning?, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Day At The Beach, M/M, hunk swims, keith sinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-25 01:04:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14965772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/c0cunt/pseuds/c0cunt
Summary: A day at the beach isn't as relaxing to Keith as it sounds to Hunk.





	Sink or Swim

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HedonistInk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HedonistInk/gifts).



> ♥ ♥ ♥ a very happy birthday to a very great human ♥ ♥ ♥
> 
> (ps, i wrote most of this while i was out of my mind with pain. so it might not be super coherent. idk, give it a shot my dude)

Sometimes, Keith could hardly believe they'd made it there.  “There” being, at this moment, a warm beach that Hunk had wistfully said reminded him of the ones he had grown up a short walk from.  “There” also meaning to the point that Keith could hold Hunk’s large hands in his own without turning fifteen shades of red. Even Shiro had made fun of him about it, how  _ obvious _ Keith had been, even though  _ Hunk _ had seemed relatively clueless.

 

As if summoned by Keith's thoughts, Hunk resurfaced from where he had swam out by himself, after confirming there wasn't anything in the water that would find humans tasty snacks.  It amazed Keith how fast Hunk could swim, looking almost effortless as he neared the shore. Hunk staggered out of the water, barely finding his footing in the sand as the ebbing tide dragged him back.  Breathless and grinning, Hunk raised a hand to wave at Keith, unaware of the wave that rose well above his head before it crashed over him. He went down soundlessly beneath the thundering of the wave, and Keith kicked up a spectacular amount of sand as he bulldozed his way to where he had seen Hunk go down, carelessly splashing into the water, still in his boots and jeans like an idiot who had never been to a beach before.

 

“Hunk?” Keith shouted over the waves, not trusting the way the water greedily lapped at his calves.  But Hunk didn't surface, and fear lodged itself firmly in Keith's throat...The deep green water dragged at Keith's clothes as he frantically splashed in, searching for any dark, Hunk-sized shapes beneath the surface.

 

Keith, he wasn't the best swimmer.  Hell, he wasn't  _ any _ sort of swimmer, never taking swim lessons as a kid, and too far away from any body of water for it to be any sort of major concern.  So when he took one more bouncing step forward, and his foot was met by open water...Keith’s stomach dropped almost as fast as he did, his other foot barely grazing the sand where it had been placed moments before, only managing to stir the sand as he slid under.  Water greedily rushed over him, warm from the system's sun, waterlogged clothes dragging him down even faster than his frantic thrashing.

 

With barely half a breath of air in his lungs, Keith desperately kicked his boots off, and nearly shouted as a set of strong arms wrapped around his waist.  He elbowed at whatever had its hold on him, frantically wondering if there were merfolk like the one planet Hunk had told him about, and if they were going to drag him to a watery grave.  Instead of his fears playing out, Keith was dragged easily upward like a ragdoll, breaching the surface as his lungs burned. Keith gratefully sucked in a greedy breath of air, coughing and spluttering as salty water followed as his head bobbed below the choppy waterline.  He barely even paid attention to who his rescuer was, too relieved about not  _ drowning. _

 

“Keith, what in the ever-loving  _ hell _ were you doing?”  Hunk shouted breathlessly, right next to Keith's ear.  Still trying to catch his breath, Keith merely shook his head, clinging to Hunk as his boyfriend effortlessly towed him to shore.  Once his feet hit sand, Keith struggled to stand on his own, but Hunk just hauled Keith further up in his arms, not trusting that Keith could support himself.  Which was probably a good idea, even if Keith tried to string together some form of protests, as he was gently set next to the towels they'd brought.

 

“Saw you...Fall,”  Keith choked breathlessly, as Hunk whipped sand off of one of the towels and helped his drowned rat of a boyfriend dry off with a horrified look on his face.

 

“Oh my god Keith, no.  No, I mean yes, I did fall.  But nooo, you idiot, you don't even know  _ how _ to swim!”  The tone of Hunk's voice almost sounded scolding, but not quite.  Still too fearful to be upset, though Keith still hung his head in shame, cheeks burning as he was fussed over.

 

“I mean, I get why, but  _ damn, _ that was stupid.  Not that I think  _ you're _ stupid, just the fear-induced attempt to save me was stupid.  I mean, I was a lifeguard for like, two summers, even if that doesn't really mean much.  Lifeguards can almost drown too...That wasn't reassuring, was it?” Hunk rambled as he rubbed Keith's back, only pausing when he realized he wasn't being any sort of comforting.  Keith couldn't help wheezing out a laugh that turned into a cough, shaking his head slightly.

 

“Not really,” Keith finally said, as Hunk slung the towel around his shoulders and handed him a water pouch from the bag of supplies they'd taken with them.  Keith sipped gratefully, staring at the way sunlight reflected off the ocean to make a dazzling, alluring display, before muttering “I lost my boots,” in a mildly surprised tone.  Hunk let out a half laugh as he shook his head at Keith.

 

“Well, they belong to the water now.  We'll get you a new pair at the castle, yeah?”  Keith nodded at Hunk’s words, still staring at the water as Hunk pulled him practically into Hunk's lap.

 

“Teach me to swim?”  Keith asked quietly, leaning back against Hunk's warm, solid body.  Keith felt immeasurably tired, eyelids drooping as Hunk plucked the almost empty water pouch from his lax hand.

 

“I can do that.  A pool or a lake would probably be safer than the ocean for learning, so I'll see what we can do,” Hunk murmured.  He started to go on about the pros and cons of each potential body of water, but stopped when Keith's tired head dropped onto his shoulder.  Hunk's heart turned to mush as Keith let out a tired little sigh in his half asleep state, and twined their fingers together. Hunk made a mental note to ask Keith what he would prefer later, unable to hide a grin when Keith snored lightly into his shoulder.


End file.
